Monday, February 28, 2011

Thomas Edison had some great inventions, the most notable being the modern light bulb, but he had some wacky ones as well. Take this 1889 Edison Talking Doll (right) or the electric pen (below). Not quite the hits he might have expected.

On shooting Wall Street while drunk: "I'd begun drinking all the time. We shot in New York City, so I'd be out to the bars every night till 3 or 4 a.m., then try to show up for a 6 a.m. call to stand toe-to-toe with Michael Douglas and handle 50% of a scene. How could that work? Yet there I was, the guy that struck gold, looking around at dawn to find that the only one still partying was me."

"As kids we're not taught how to deal with success; we're taught how to deal with failure. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. If at first you succeed, then what?"

"I was with one at a time with the other four watching. It was a little uncomfortable, actually. I wouldn't recommend five at once. There's just not enough guy to go around."

College student Corey Fauver filmed his beard growing over the course of more than a year. He took a photo per day and edited them into a video sequence from stubble to ZZ Top and back again. Yes, it's worth watching.

Mr. non-profit Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has applied to have his name trademarked. The trademark application covers these services: "Public speaking services; news reporter services; journalism; publication of texts other than publicity texts; education services; entertainment services." Well I guess given his growing legal bills for his sexual assault case and the target on his back drawn by most of the world's countries, it's hard to blame him.Hey, he's just following in the footsteps of Sarah Palin who filedto trademark her name – and her daughter Bristol's.

This almost sounds like a joke, but in a first person account by Dafna Linzer on ProPublica about her experience writing the citizenship exam, it appears you are required to give the wrong answers to pass the test. Linzer is a Canadian and did manage to pass. Here are some excerpts from her account:
"Take Question 36. It asks applicants to name two members of the president's Cabinet. Among the correct answers is "Vice President." The vice president is a cabinet-level officer but he's not a Cabinet member. Cabinet members are unelected heads of executive departments [4], such as the Defense Department, or the State Department."

This out of Surprise, Arizona: The name of the town should be warning enough. Teacher Tarah Ausburn has enough bumper stickers on her Prius to paper the Vatican. It seems parents at the Imagine Prep High School took exception to some of the stickers and Ausburn was turfed. Or maybe not. Parents say she was fired over other issues and the school refuses to talk. The sticker that seems to have really upset parents is this one: "Have you drugged your kid today?" Kinda cute I thought!

A small fraction of the population is face blind - known as prosopagnosia . They cannot recognize faces — sometimes even the faces of their parents, spouses, and children. It can be congenital or happen as the result of an injury. Recently well known neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks made the surprising disclosure that he has prosopagnosia. Hey, so do I. Watch this CBC video segment from The Hour and find out more. Get more info and take the test yourself here.

In an interview with the Today Show, Charlie Sheen tells a somewhat startled Jeff Rossen that he wants $3 million an episode to return to the popular show Two an a Half Men. He is reportedly making $1.8 million per episode now, making him one of the highest paid actors in TV Land. .

Rosen asked Sheen, "You want a raise?" Rossen asked.

Sheen: "Yeah, look what they put me through ... I'm tired of pretending I'm not special ... you can't process me with a normal brain."

This is just too bizarre. Former Canadian defence minister Paul Hellyer – and by former I mean 1963 – believes aliens have been making contact with humans for years and have been warning us about the environment. He says humans have always fired on alien craft rather than attempt to approach their inhabitants and understand them.

In a speech (see video below) , Hellyer said: "Decades ago, visitors from other planets warned us about where we were headed and offered to help. But instead we, or at least some of us, interpreted their visits as a threat, and decided to shoot first and ask questions after."

Sunday, February 27, 2011

" Even a regional nuclear war could spark "unprecedented" global cooling and reduce rainfall for years, according to U.S. government computer models.Widespread famine and disease would likely follow, experts speculate.

To see what climate effects such a regional nuclear conflict might have, scientists from NASA and other institutions modeled a war involving a hundred Hiroshima-level bombs, each packing the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT—just 0.03 percent of the world's current nuclear arsenal. "

I have to guess this is really pissing off he peeps in Auckland, New Zealand. Bad enough they are dealing with the horrific earthquake in Christchurch, now they have to put up with advertising being imprinted on their thighs! Superette, a boutique chain, wanted to promote its short shorts sale. Their ad agency came up with this gem.

From ad agency DDB: "We put indented plates on bus stop, mall, and park benches, so that when people sat down, the message was imprinted on their thighs. This meant that as well as having branded seats, a veritable army of free media was created, with thousands of imprints being created and lasting up to an hour."

The world has been waiting and now he's arrived. Jesus is on Facebook. I guess it was inevitable. The second coming. Or is it the third? Go ahead – like him! (I notice he also likes "Overheard in the newsroom.)

From Wikipedia:"Jesus of Nazareth (c. 5 BC/BCE – c. 30 AD/CE), also referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Jesus, is the central figure of Christianity. Most Christian denominations"

Mok Young Bak decided he needed a robotic device to operate three cellphones remotely. He calls his machine the Caduceus. It has one job only - to press every button on the phone via telepresence. The big question is why? Here's the Wikipedia definition of Cauceus. Search for clues: " The caduceus (in English pronounced /kəˈdjuːsiːəs/, /-ʃəs/, from Greekκηρύκειονkērukeion "herald's staff") is the staff carried by HermesGreek mythology. The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings. In Roman iconography it was often depicted being carried in the left hand of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars and thieves." in

"The present invention concerns a device for protection against transmissible diseases consisting of an outside covering made of a flexible plastic material, preferably transparent, covering a part at least of the body and comprising means (9) for attaching a sheath (4). It also relates to a sheath for implementation on such protection device. Application for combating infectious diseases"

From Nasa: "When a rather large M 3.6 class flare occurred near the edge of the Sun on Feb. 24, 2011, it blew out a gorgeous, waving mass of erupting plasma that swirled and twisted for 90 minutes. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the event in extreme ultraviolet light. Because SDO images are high definition, the team was able to zoom in on the flare and still see exquisite details. And using a cadence of a frame taken every 24 seconds, the sense of motion is, by all appearances, seamless."

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Very cool viewpoint on the launch that I have never seen before. This from the video poster: "Flying from Orlando, FL I had the rare opportunity to be able to watch Discovery's final launch as it embarks on STS-133."

A Michigan insurance company is suing the FBI claiming it trashed a $750K Ferrari it and won't pay up. It started with an FBI agent "transporting" the Ferrari F50 in Lexington, Kentucky. The agent lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. The insurance company wants more info on the crash and to be paid for the car, but the feds won't cough up the records, their lawsuit claims.

The car was originally stolen from a Pennsylvania dealership in 2003. The dealership submitted a claim and was paid by the insurance company. Five years later the FBI located the car and stored it pending prosecution of the thief. It seems at that point the FBI took the sports car out for a spin and oops .... The feds have refused to pay up, so the insurance company is suing.

A 14-month-old girl was locked in a bank vault in Georgia for four hours. The vault was time-locked and thus difficult to open once the girl became trapped. She had wandered away from her mother and grandmother and walked into the back vault unseen by bank employees. When the vault door was closed for the weekend, the child became trapped. Fresh air had to be pumped in to the crying child while a locksmith opened the vault. Police Chief Gene Wilson called it a "very tense scene" . The toddler was freed unharmed. Could this have been a diabolical underworld plot involving a midget? Better check the safety deposit boxes!

I'll bet you've been wondering about this: How long does it take a human body to dissolve in sulfuric acid? According to the Mafia in Sicily it takes just minutes. “We put the people in acid. In 15, 20 minutes they were no more — they became a liquid.” This from an informant.

Not so according to researchers.

Using pig carcasses, scientists determined it took two days to dissolve a corpse, if water was added, which speeds the process. The research was reported at a recent meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Biologist Denise Dearing of the University of Utah believes she and her team can predict the outbreak of disease by studying satellite images and comparing colour patterns. It follows animal behavior as it relates to vegetation and looks for trends that would indicate a possible outbreak of disease. Interesting and innovative for sure. Read more about it on Phyorg.com.

"Suspect Joshua Lee Joehlin told cops that he is a member of the “Redneck” faith. Joehlin, a 20-year-old Texan, was busted early Sunday morning on a felony charge of engaging in a lewd and lascivious act with a minor. Joehlin is being held in the Manatee County jail in lieu of $10,000 bond."

For the record here is the Wikipedia definition of a redneck:
"Originally used in reference to poor, white farmers, redneck is a historically derogatory slang term to refer to working class Southerners in the United States.[1] It is similar in meaning to "cracker" (especially regarding Georgia and Florida), "hillbilly" (especially regarding Appalachia and the Ozarks)[2] and "white trash".

If there was a dumb burglar award it would definitely go to Rodney Knight Jr. Rodney robbed the house of Washington Post reporter Marc Fisher in December. Fisher blogged about the robbery for the Post. The thing is – Rodney then went on Fisher's son's Facebook page and posted a photo of himself while wearing Fisher's son's coat and holding his cash, for all of the son's friends to see.

Fisher wrote, "He felt compelled to showboat about his big achievement: He opened my son's computer, took a photo of himself sneering as he pointed to the cash lifted from my son's desk, and then went on my son's Facebook account and posted the picture for 400 teenagers to see. In the picture, the man is wearing my new winter coat, the one that was stolen right out of the Macy's box it had just arrived in."

Rodney Knight, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and to carrying a pistol without a license.He should get two extra years for stupidity.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

CBS has shut down Two and a Half Men for the season after Sheen's truly wacky radio interview with conservative radio host Alex Jones. Some highlights:
• Claimed he cured his alcoholism "with my mind"
• Called his pornstar lovers his "goddesses"
• Insulted show creator Chuck Lorrie "I violently hate Chaim Levine (Chuck Lorre). He's a stupid, stupid little man and a pussy punk that I'd never want to be like."

Check out these cool devices from the CIA. The photos are direct from the CIA – our little secret!

Dragonfly Insectothopter

Developed by CIA’s Office of Research and Development in the 1970s, this micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was the first flight of an insect-sized aerial vehicle (Insectothopter). It was an initiative to explore the concept of intelligence collection by miniaturized platforms.

Robot Fish "Charlie"

CIA's Office of Advanced Technologies and Programs developed the Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) fish to study aquatic robot technology. The UUV fish contains a pressure hull, ballast system, and communications system in the body and a propulsion system in the tail. It is controlled by a wireless line-of-sight radio handset.

Watch this cool video about Adrian Chen, a Foley artist. They're the people that use all kinds of weird stuff to make the sounds we hear in movies. The sound of a horse galloping through the meadow – that's the work of a Foley artist.

I didn't even realize this was an issue and likely the U.S. Department of Transportation didn't as well. That is, until videos like this one of a man smoking a "smokeless" electronic cigarette on a plane started turning up on YouTube. Secretary Ray LaHood said regulations banning smoking do cover e-cigarettes. So butt out those high tech smokes now!

At one time the Kurds thought Kadhafi was a real great guy – so great they named a road junction after him calling it (surprise) "Moamer Kadhafi" junction. That was way back in 2004 when the Libyan maniac showed empathy for the Kurdish cause. Times change. "After the recent events, we have decided to change it back to its original name - Shartshinar - because we have realised that he is a dictator who does not respect his people," Sulaimaniyah municipal council spokesman Zardasht Rafiq said. The Kurds giveth and they taketh away.

Auction house RM is going to be offering one of the coolest buses ever made at its upcoming auction in May: The GM Futurliner. It was made by GM as part of its parade of progress – a traveling auto show in the 1940's and 50's. There were twelve of these babies built and only 8 are know to survive. Very cool.

A Serbian family claims their son Bogdan is magnetic. Forks and knives stick to his body. So do plates. He can't go near computers or they stop working. I'm not sure what is going on, but it is just weird. Have a look:

Matt Kravchuk likely knew that playing with Holy Family University in Philadelphia was going to be a tough grind, but I'm guessing he didn't sign up for this. During a rebounding drill Kravchuk wasn't working hard enough for coach John O’Connor. O’Connor decided to "inspire" Kravchuk by knocking him to the ground and kicking him while yelling “get up!” Kravchuk – injured and bleeding, got up and went to the back of the line. O’Connor continued saying ”Got a little blood on ya? Good,” and then kicked him out of practice. O'Connor has been suspended. One hell of a coach.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Coming to a book store near you: The biographical comic book portraying the life of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Canadian comic production company Bluewater Productions has just released the “giant-sized” 48-page comic book, written by journalist Jerome Maida and illustrated by Sal Field. The comic is selling for $6.99 at your favorite comic book store.

A Beijing wman has caused some international tremors by posting a nude video of her twenty-six-year-old daughter on the internet. She hoping to find an eligible husband for her. The video shows her daughter, identified as actress-model Gan Lulu, showering, as mother complains:
"Oh, see how old you are and still want me to help you wash your back? I am trying to help you find a prospective marriage partner. What kind of qualifications you want - speak them out!"

OK, you've seen lots of images of the big pizza pie in the sky. But this one is extraordinary. It's the one of the highest resolution images of the moon ever made. It's actually a mosaic of 1300 separate images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Wide-Angle Camera. The total size is an incredible 24,000 x 24,000 pixels. The images were taken over the course of two weeks in December 2010 by the LRO in a polar orbit around the Moon. Behold!

There is dumb and there is dumber. Two Dell employees must truly believe the saying"There's no such thing as bad publicity". They put together a hostage-themed marketing stunt to market the Dell Streak tablet and it went very, very wrong.

A Dell sales manager dressed in a biker costume complete with black mask while carrying two metallic objects. He then told people at Dell's Round Rock headquarters to "go to the lobby."

The Round Rock SWAT team responded to multiple 911 calls of a suspect inside of one of the Dell campus buildings. When officers stormed the place, they say one man refused to comply with officers. 11 minutes into the situation police finally determined the masked man and another man were part of an in house marketing plan but had not told anyone about it.